After dinner, Eriri dragged Ayase, who was staying over, to take a bath.
The two girls, one older and one younger, made a racket in the bathroom for over an hour. It wasn't until Sayuri threatened, "If you don't come out now, no cola for you tonight!" that Eriri was reluctantly pulled out of the bathroom by a helpless Ayase.
"Seriously, Eriri-nee." Sitting obediently on the chair in her room, wearing a light blue pajama set, Ayase pouted and complained softly to Eriri, who was standing behind her drying her hair with a towel. "I told you to close your eyes when rinsing just now."
"How did you still get shampoo in your eyes..."
"Guh—" Reminded of the memory, Eriri let out a defiant sound, her hands subconsciously applying a bit more force as she rubbed Ayase's hair. "What's with that tone, Ayase? How can you talk to your older sister like that?"
"...Yeah, yeah, my bad. Sorry, my older sister who's two years my senior~"
"You're just brushing me off again!"
"Uwaa!"
Her little head being vigorously rubbed by Eriri, Ayase almost fell off the chair. She puffed up her cheeks, looking at Eriri with a milky-fierce expression.
Seeing this, Eriri wasn't scared at all. Instead, she revealed a smile like a total creep, shouting, "Kawaii! Ayase-chan is the cutest! Kawaii!" as she spread her arms and pounced.
"Guh... Eriri-nee!" Trying hard to shake off Eriri, who was clinging to her and rubbing their cheeks together, Ayase pushed at Eriri's body in disgust. "Stop rubbing against me! It's hot, Eriri-nee!"
"Hehehe, you're so cute, Ayase-chan! Hehe~"
"Creepy! Sayuri-nee! Save me!!"
Scared by Eriri's creepy behavior, Ayase shouted with tears in the corners of her eyes.
"Ara ara." As if she had timed it perfectly, Sayuri pushed the door open, carrying a tray with a bottle of iced cola and two glasses.
Watching her daughter act like a total creep, frantically nuzzling the little girl's cheek, Sayuri then shifted her gaze to the wronged, teary-eyed Ayase-chan. Blinking, she said cheerfully, "You two are so close."
"Sayuri-nee~" Hearing this, Ayase pouted her wronged little mouth.
Meanwhile, Eriri cheerfully looked up, her expression happy and proud as she tilted her chin. "Of course."
"By the way, Mom, Ayase-chan's face is so smooth and tender, and her body is so soft and squishy, it's super comfortable to hug!"
"Eriri-nee!!"
Blushing furiously, Ayase shouted in a coquettish, flustered voice.
"Alright, Eriri." Seeing her best friend's daughter being 'bullied' to the verge of tears by her own daughter, Sayuri smiled at Eriri. "Know when to stop."
"You don't want to scare little Ayase so much that she never comes to our house again, do you?"
"Don't worry, Mom." Smiling, Eriri hugged Ayase tightly from behind like a koala and said happily, "Ayase would never do that."
"Anyway, everything needs a limit. Let go of Ayase-chan now."
Wrinkling her nose slightly, Sayuri put on a serious expression and flicked her daughter's forehead with her finger.
Eriri cooperatively let out a pained yelp, raising her hand to cover the slightly red spot on her forehead.
Seeing this, Ayase quickly turned around, her tone full of concern. "What's wrong? Does it hurt a lot, Eriri-nee?"
"...."
What is this? Is she a little angel?!
Looking at Ayase, who had just been tormented by her sister and looked wronged, yet her first reaction upon hearing Eriri's pained yelp was to comfort the very person who tormented her, the Sawamura mother and daughter were stunned.
In unison, Sayuri and Eriri felt like they had seen an angel.
As for Aragaki Ayase.
Looking at the highly similar expressions of surprise on Sayuri-nee and Eriri-nee's faces, and their slightly sharp gazes directed at her, she subconsciously shrank her neck and asked very carefully, "Sayuri-nee, Eriri-nee, w-what's wrong with you two?"
....
After all, it was currently the girls' happy time. As an adult and Eriri's mother, Sayuri delivered snacks and drinks to the two girls and then 'considerately' left, leaving the time and the room to the two whispering little girls.
However, unlike the afternoon tea time when the two friends each held a cup of black tea and chatted over biscuits and small cakes, the current atmosphere was different.
Wearing dorky black-framed glasses and an oversized tracksuit she had somehow changed into, Eriri sat cross-legged in her computer chair, her long hair cascading down. She spun a stylus in one hand and grabbed her freshly washed, fragrant little foot with the other. She looked questioningly at Ayase, who was sitting neatly with her legs tucked to the side by the small coffee table, her little face written with the word 'serious' as she watched anime.
"Ayase-chan, why aren't you going home tonight?"
"Isn't Aragaki-nii already back in Chiba?"
It was no wonder Eriri was curious. After all, judging by how clingy this little girl was to her brother, if she knew her brother, whom she hadn't seen in almost a month, was currently at home, this little girl wouldn't just stay over at her house... even if she were in Kansai, Ayase would absolutely go home.
But right now.
"Mm... it's nothing."
Although she said that, the hesitant expression on Ayase's face clearly showed that what she was thinking wasn't what she was saying.
This contrasting behavior made Eriri even more curious.
Putting her leg down, she tiptoed on the floor and inch-ed her chair closer to Ayase, then nimbly hopped off the chair.
Thump. She sat right next to Ayase, her eyes full of curiosity. "Ayase-chan's expression doesn't match what you're saying at all."
"Wuuu....." Having her thoughts read so accurately, Ayase paused, then shyly averted her gaze. Her tone was slightly stuttering as she tried to change the subject. "It's really nothing, Eriri-nee. Do you even have the mind to think about this?"
"Don't you still have... drawing to finish?"
Hearing this, Eriri's movements instantly stiffened, and the curious, gossipy expression on her face froze at the exact same time.
Then, like a startled rabbit, she quickly turned around, hopped back onto her chair, and scooted back to her computer in a flash of sparks, not daring to say a single word as she continued her doujin manga creation.
Oh, of course, what Eriri was drawing here was an all-ages doujin... As for her actual job drawing 18+ doujins, she definitely didn't dare to rush her work in front of Ayase.
After all, Eriri knew the 'flaws' of her actual job herself. She didn't want to pollute the pure heart of her little friend who had just entered middle school.
Mm-hmm, it was absolutely not because she was afraid that if she drew those doujins in front of Ayase, some angry older brother would come to her door and beat her up... absolutely not.
Stealing a glance at Eriri, who had already fallen into a rush-to-finish-the-manuscript state, Ayase let out a small sigh of relief.
But the next second, that hesitant, conflicted expression quietly reappeared on Ayase's little face.
Accompanied by a very, very quiet murmur to herself.
"I don't want to see Big Brother right now...."
Feeling a bit wronged.
And a little scared.